Gunnedin
The Principality of Gunnedin is a society that has grown into the large city that was abandoned by its previous inhabitants during the Plague. It is ruled by Archbrother Michael who is the leader of the political party NGLUS and it is where Black Feather is based. Gunnedin is a city that had been reclaimed after the RVH outbreak by NGLUS. History In the early days of the outbreak in 2026, the Old City was mostly evacuated. The evacuation was not entirely successful due to the sheer number of people that needed to be moved out and those that remained in the city died from the disease shortly after. The city became abandoned. In 2027 in the outskirts of the city, a small group of 15 year old boys Michael, Raphael and Gabriel established Gunnedin, a safe zone that people could escape to. It was a haven for all who where not infected and were escaping infection themselves. The sick, the elderly, the young and the weak were all welcome to the community with open arms. Slowly it became a thriving village. The strong protected and provided for the weak until a group of people fled with the majority of the food and medical supplies, leaving behind a breach in the defences against the infected. This led to a turn of opinion. The leaders of Gunnedin slowly started restricting the access to supplies and restricting the types of people who may enter Gunnedin. The principality did well for itself in the time being. It expanded to fill the niches of the city that was left behind but as the principality grew, the more exclusive it became that it was infamous for being so hostile. The leaders revelled in their prideful control over the principality. "During the outbreak, Gunnedin was a welcoming sanctuary to all survivors. Resources were shared among all who needed it and those who were able protected and defended those who could not themselves. Over time, this paradise evolved into something a little grim. Though now a sprawling metropolis, it was a fortress that walled its inhabitants in. Gunned in as one might say. What were the people protected from, so many years after the virus had faded and the rest of the Earth rebuilt to become better societies? The virus of course. “It’s out there. You don’t know who might still be infected out in the rest of the world. That one infected individual may cause the revival of the virus and humanity as we know it will be eradicated for good. Gunnedin is where you are truly safe from the virus. Our world class genetic engineers guarantee it.” -- My WorldAnvil entry As the world around them started to heal and became better societies especially during the early years of the virus' decline, the residents of Gunnedin were gradually diminishing as they left for better opportunities. The leaders were not pleased in the slightest and raged to wall its inhabitants in. In 2037, the day Gunnedin officially closed itself off from the outside world is celebrated as Principality Day. The people were to be domesticated like dogs and enslaved in the fortress. Gunnedin established a two-party democracy and the leaders formed the main party NGLUS and created its dummy opposition party DEMUS to hide the fact that it is actually a totalitarian dictatorship. DEMUS did slowly start to become a serious competitor for NGLUS. Gunnedin takes advantage of the abandoned universities in the Old City and have made dramatic improvements in the biological sciences, particularly genetics. You’d think this would benefit the citizens but in fact this is all to fuel the greed of NGLUS' desire for military power. Most of the inhabitants of Gunnedin live in post apocalyptic conditions even when the viral outbreak had been years long gone, convinced that they are the only bastion of humanity. Their supplies are diminishing yet NGLUS convince them the opposite. Inhabitants The citizens of Gunnedin can be described as these distinct groups based on their class and occupation. * Government officials * Black Feather * Thieves * Military * Scientists * Influencers * Proles Geography The Principality of Gunnedin is located at the base of a mountain. Surrounding the main city is a large expanse of frozen desert with small strips of simple country housing. There is a mountain nearby with a small forest separating the desert near it. The desert was artificially created by flattening large expanses of land near the mountains and using that land to build walls and other infrastructure. So maybe Gunnedin isn’t all bad in terms of eco-friendliness. Outside of the Gunnedin Walls is considered No Man's Land. Gunnedin is split into the east and west by the Gunnedin Canal. The west contains the agricultural district, residential district, city centre and factory district. The residential district and city centre contains most genetic research facilities, designer baby clinics and gene therapy clinics. The residential districts are not entirely dedicated to housing. There are town squares based on the suburbs by the residents of the Old City and some shops but a lot of them have been demolished to make way for brutalist style apartment buildings to cater to the demand for housing. There is one guarded exit at the Gunnedin Walls in the west. East Gunnedin is mostly wasteland. The military base is in the north where there are two exits at the walls. There are two major roads that connect the east and the west but there is a steep toll for crossing the bridge so these roads are rarely used for travelling between the east and west sides of the canal. However, the population is slightly denser at these two roads. They are mostly populated by thieves and some very low income proles. The south of Gunnedin is where most of the junkyards and rubbish dumps are. This is where domestic waste, laboratory waste and factory waste are processed. In the south where the canal leaves the city, there is also a guarded exit. In the south east one of the major roads leads to a guarded exit at the walls. There are slums on both sides of the canal that are populated by thieves. In the west, the slums surround the residential districts where not many people live. In the east, slums can be anywhere but they are mostly concentrated at the main roads. Resources and technology Livestock See Agriculture in Flora and Fauna. Technology Scrap metals and technology are still scavenged from throughout the city in abandoned buildings. Most materials really are just scavenged. By 2084, most people should have a smartphone similar to the 2010s and 2020s as well as PCs or laptops. Because NGLUS does not want to upgrade Gunnedines to more modern technology that have been developed in Gunnedin for research and in other settlements for their commercial use, Gunnedines are seen by other settlements as more primitive and old fashioned. Electricity Electricity is still produced through burning coal and petroleum while other cities have moved on to greener pastures. Although sufficient electricity can actually be provided for Gunnedin, NGLUS prioritises Inner Circle members and government funded research facilities to sequester electricity for. Proles are frequently subject to electricity outages. Although green energy technology such as solar panels are not illegal, NGLUS discourages its use by inducing artificial rain under the guise that Gunnedin is located in a desert and that rain is rare. Collecting too much rain water is illegal. Rain is not actually that rare in Gunnedin so as a result, it rains unusually much for a desert town which disrupts the ecosystem. Water Water filtration is up to the individual to manage because NGLUS wants to maintain the illusion that the world is still in the midst of a viral apocalypse. They can provide a source of water but that is all they can provide in trying times. In the average household, water that comes out of the tap may be clear but it is neither colourless nor safe to drink even though NGLUS says that it is (because their water absolutely is safe to drink). Bottled water is scavenged throughout the city and rain water is sometimes illegally collected. Flora and Fauna After the viral outbreak, other species besides humans were infected to some extent by the highly potent virus too. New strains of existing flora are cropping up around the region. Fauna in the areas have a slightly higher rate of developing tumours. Some of these mutations are due to the viruses and some are due to genetic experiments that have been carelessly disposed of. Because of the rapid declines in human populations, the populations and biodiversity of animals in the wild have increased significantly. Agriculture Livestock and crops are grown in the outskirts of Gunnedin on land that previously did belong to farms. Farm crops and livestock are pretty much monocultures at this point that’s how you know this is a dystopia. Livestock are bred to failure with tumours and genetic diseases while humans are tinkering with their own genetic code at a commercial level. Domestic animals Stray domesticated animals are a common sight. Dogs and cats commonly run free. Most of the time, they are abandoned because the owners grew sick of them or they developed unsightly deformities such as tumours or rashes that are incurable at the moment because of their incredibly recent occurences. Domesticated animals tend to be very inbred and incapable of surviving in Gunnedin on their own. There are packs of feral dogs that roam within and outside of Gunnedin. They are commonly called dingoes due to their intermediate evolutionary relationship with wolves and dogs but are not actually dingoes. Wolves exist outside of Gunnedin though it is also unknown if they are real wolves or if they are formerly domestic dogs that have evolved out of domesticity. There are efforts to care for the domestic dogs. There is a shelter on the outskirts of Gunnedin that cares for stray domesticated animals but it is difficult to find a good home for them among the citizens of Gunnedin. Those who can afford to take care of a pet will not tolerate any deformities and will purchase from puppy and kitten farms based in genetic research facilities and those who want to adopt cannot afford to take care of them. Raven is a frequent visitor and donor to animal shelters. Category:Locations